The present invention relates to devices for facilitating the filling of finger holes in bowling balls with a suitable liquid or semi-liquid filling compound, in particular to such devices whereby the filling compound can be poured above the level of the finger hole so the excess filling compound provides for shrinkage during curing or hardening with the cured or set filling compound extending at least to the outer arc of the ball.
In the sport of bowling it is often advantageous or desirable to change the location or size of one or all of the finger holes. For instance the ball may be sold to a new party or the owner may wish to change the configuration of the finger holes. The task of changing size or location of the holes is most easily accomplished by filling in the old holes with a compatible filling compound, such as epoxy or the like, and drilling new holes.
Several problems are encountered in filling the holes. In particular, the filling compound must extend above the top of the hole so as to provide for shrinkage and so as to conform to the arc of the ball. Thus some device must be utilized to hold the filling compound in place over the hole until set. Another problem is that the filling compound is relatively expensive and thus it is desirous to minimize excess usage thereof. Further, the excess set filling compound must be removed from the ball by a grinding and polishing process or the like which process is easier to accomplish when the surface to be ground is minimal and there is very little excess filling compound. Thus, it is important to keep the filling compound from seeping, oozing, or overflowing the dam onto the ball. It is also important to be able to fill more than one finger hole at the same time since curing time of the filling compound is relatively long and it is more efficient to fill all the holes to be plugged at the same time.
One widely used device for holding the filling compound has been clay which is hand molded into a barrier about the hole and chopped away after use. The major problem related to clay barriers is that utilization thereof tends to be very labor intensive and time consuming, and there is very little consistency of size or shape associated therewith. Thus, preferably a dam should be easy to use, consistant in shape, available in standardized sizes, and reusable.
Other types of conventional dams include somewhat inflexible devices of materials, such as polystyrene marketed under the trademark Styrofoam by the Dow Chemical Co., which surround a hole to be filled and are held thereabout by an adhesive applied to the ball and/or the dam. The major problems associated with such adhered devices are that there is a tendency of the filling compound to seep between the base thereof and the ball and for the most part they are not reusable.